Awakening
by TreeSparks1713
Summary: Of course only Merlin could accidentally sleep over one thousand years, missing two World Wars and only waking up after the end of a major Wizarding War. Where is a warlock to go when he needs to learn about everything he's missed? Why Hogwarts of course! Watch the Golden Trio meet the world's most powerful Warlock (not that they know that of course!) in their 7th year of Hogwarts
1. Chapter 1

It was time for another year at Hogwarts and all of the students were excited. I mean, who wouldn't be excited about another year of witches, wizards, and magical beasts! Merlin, however, was pretty grumpy. He had been trying out a new spell and had fallen asleep for 300 bloody years! All of a sudden he wakes up and there are things like cars and cell phones and what-not. Not to mention a thing called a train.  
>The train Merlin was on was a blinding shade of red. The first thing (well third, his bladder had been waiting for three hundred years and man had he been hungry!) he had done was check on the development of the wizarding world. It had really gone downhill! Apparently he had slept through an entire wizarding war concerning blood purity of all things.<p>

Not to mention the fact that the entire branch of magical folk in Britain had become completely independant upon wands. When he had first invented wands to help the more mediocre magic users channel their power, he had never guessed that they would eventually be used for everything.

Then he had read up on what had happened in more detail. While in a store called "Flourish and Blotts" he had overheard a young girl asking about where the books for Hogwart were. Merlin had instantly grasped onto the idea of Hogwarts. He had been there only twice before. The first time was when he helped the founders turn the abandoned castle into a school. The second was many years later when he dropped by to visit and was sorted into Slytherin by what Godric had called "The Sorting Hat".

Merlin had sent the current Headmistriss of Hogwarts a letter claiming to be a transfer student. He said he was homeschooled before his parent were killed in the war. Later that week he recieved a letter stating that if he could pass a few tests they would happily accept him as a 7th year.

He had passed their tests with flying colors after they had a teacher who met with him asking basic questions all seventh years were expected to know. He then had to transfigure a napkin into a parrot and brew a potion well within his range.

That brought him here. He was sitting in a small room on the so called train thinking about all of the things he had missed in his sleep. He jumped when the train gave a loud noise and then began to move. Honestly all of this new technology was giving him a headache. So many things that could only have been achieved by magic were now capable with science and new inventions. He had even seen a flying machine the other day.

He was snapped out of his musing by the door of his room opening. Standing in the doorway was a girl with dirty blonde hair and radishes hanging from her earlobes. It looked as though there was metal hanging them there. Wouldn't that hurt?

"Hello" He said to break the awkward silence."My name is Marvin."

"My name is Luna" She said quietly as she almost danced her way into the room. "You wouldn't mind if I sat here would you?" She looked at him in such a way Merlin felt as if she was staring into his soul.

"Umm, no, I don't mind. Go ahead." Maybe some company would do him good

"You know, sleep is good for the soul. Just because the world moves while you slumber does not mean it strays from its course." Luna said softly.

Merlin sat straight up and looked her in the eyes. "What do you mean by that" He said slowly.

"I mean only that though while somethings appearance has changed, that does not mean that it itself is any different." She said with a small smile gracing her face.

Merlin, for the first time, looked at Luna. Really looked. When he felt her aura he gasped. "You're a-"

The door of the compartment slammed open.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to all of the lovely people who favorited, followed, reviewed, or just read!**

In the door stood a boy with brown hair and a wide smile.

"Luna! Where have you been? Harry and Ron and I have been searching all over for you. Hermione is saving us a compartment further up the train." The boy seemed enthusiastic to have found Luna. Merlin started to wonder if there was more going on there.

"Oh hello Neville. I was just making a new friend. The Ringle-Snappers told me he would be here." She smiled at the bo- Neville before turning to Merlin and continuing. "Neville, this is Mer-"

Merlin cut her off. "Marvin, my name is Marvin. You must have misheard me earlier." He said quickly out of panick giving Luna pleading look. She gave a look of understanding and smiled at him.

"Yes I must have misheard you. The Nargles are always loudest this time of year." She turned back to Neville who was still standing in the doorway. "Neville this is my new friend Marvin. New friend Marvin, this is Neville." She smiled as they shook hands and Merlin smiled at her calling him a friend.

"Hey Neville! Did you find her?" A loud voice broke down the hall of the train as a boy with outragously orange hair headed towards them.  
>"Yeah she's in here with a new guy named Marvin. How about you find Harry before he is tackled by his fans and I will take them up to our compartment." Neville replied. Orange boy nodded.<p>

"Okay mate, see you there." He then took off back down the hallway in a hurry to rescue his friend.

"Who was that?" Merlin asked. He had guessed that it was the 'Ron' boy from the earlier conversation but he wasn't entirely sure.

"That was Ron. Hey, do you want to come sit with us? Any friend of Luna's is a friend of ours." Neville gave an encouraging smile as he helped Luna take her bags down.

"Sure!" Merlin replied happily and gave his brightest grin.

As they made their way down the train, Neville turned to Merlin. "Hey Marvin. What year are you?"

"Seventh." Merlin replied.

"Great! I'm in seventh too and so are Harry, Ron and Hermione. Luna is in sixth." Neville seemed pleased until he thought over the information presented to him. "I don't think I've seen you around though. What house are you?"

Merlin froze for a millisecond before answering casually. "I'm a transfer student, so I don't suppose you would have seen me before. As for houses, I think I will be in Slytherin." The last time he was sorted he had been in Slytherin, albeit only an honerary one. This would be his first time attending Hogwarts as a student. When he had been sorted before, he had asked the hat about his placement. Its answer was first of his ambition, how he had fought and strived for his destiny and the return of magic in Camelot. It then spoke of his cunning and of his adeptness of hiding his magic for so long. It said he would have easily fit the other houses, but Slytherin wa the place for him. Godric had lost ten galleon on that bet. He smiled as he remembered the founders in all of their glory.

Unbeknownst to Merlin, following his declaration had come a awfully awkward silence- for Neville atleast.

"That's great mate. Good for you. I was really nervous when I was sorted." Neville said. "Oh look we're here!" HIs voice became instantly louder as he saw the blurred shapes of his friends through the glass doors. They opened quickly.

"Neville you found her! And who is this?" Said a girl with wavy brown hair that was bordering on curly. "Anyway, come on in." They shuffled past her and as Merlin passed the girl smiled kindly at him and said "By the way, my name is Hermione."

"I'm Marvin." He smiled back and dragged his over-large suitcase into the room. After he had placed it on the rack he took a seat next to Luna. Hermione sat on the opposite bench across from Neville who was on the other side of Luna.

"Those two should be here any second." Hermione said smiling widely.

She had barely finished her sentence when a black and orange hurricane burst into the room

Hermoine stood up. "What do you two think you are-"

"No time Hermione! Lock the door and throw away the key! The fangirls are coming!" Ron managed to wheeze out as he attempted to yell and breath at the same time. Hermione only rolled her eyes before locking the door.

"Thank Merlin!" Merlin gave a small start as the black haired boy said his name before collapsing onto the bench, Ron next to him. Hermione sat back in her original seat next to Ron. Merlin knew as soon as Ron put his arm around her waist they were a couple.

Merlin took the chance to ask about the boy's earlier comment. "What about Merlin?" He questioned the group. They just looked back at him confused, so he tried again, "He just said 'Thank Merlin'. What about Merlin."

Ron looked at him oddly before saying "It's just a saying mate."

Merlin nodded, still not understanding why anyone would use his name in a saying, but let it go. If that was what they said nowadays, who is he to stop it? He didn't want the fame of being what was apperantly a figurehead in their community.

"Candy from the trolley." A nice looking elderly woman asked from outside the door. Hermione released the charm and Merlin opened it.

"I will take one of everything." Merlin said peering at the treats curiously. He hoped that their candy making hadn't gone downhill with their use of non-wand magic.

"Me too!" Said the other black haired boy excitedly. They both reached into their pockets when the woman stopped the other.

"No, no Mr. Potter. After all you have done I believe you should be able to enjoy candy without having to pay!" The woman said smiling.

"No it is fine, really, I insist on paying." Potter's speaking was strained, as if this behavior was somehow bothering him.

Merlin's brain connected two and two together. "Wait, are you Harry Potter?" He said. Harry replied with a quick "Yeah." Merlin smiled at him before saying "I read about you in the papers, something about a dark lord, Veldenord I think."

Harry's expression changed from strained acceptance to curiousity. "His name was Voldemort."

"Ah, Voldemort, right." Merlin may be good with remembering long complicated words (you should see some of the spells he had to learn) but it was difficult finding the name of a dark wizard known only as You-Know-Who. No he did not bloody know who. "Sorry, I'm from out of town."

Harry just nodded before grabbing their candy and plunking a handful of money onto the cart. The candy lady just nodded and smiled at him before closing the door. Merlin began fishing around in his pockets before bringing out a handful of the golden coins.

"How much was that for my candy then?" Merlin asked cheerfully.

"No you can just have it." Harry said handing him the sweets.

"Sorry but if you must insist on paying then so will I." Merlin chuckled and handed him a few of the coins. His attention then turned to the candies. "Chocolate frogs." He read out loud. "I'm assuming these don't contain actual frog?"

"No." Harry said "But they sure do hop like real frogs. The first one I ever opened jumped out the window of this train."

"I guess I will just have to be extra careful then." Merlin said cheerfully as he opened the box. As foretold, the frog proceeded to jump on his face and run through his hair.

"You might want to get that out before it melts in there." Hermione said knowleadgebly as she stared.

"Yeah probably a good idea." Merlin ran his hand through his hair and by the time he had caught the frog it was covered in hair he had yanked out in the chase. "That doesn't look too good." He frowned at the frog before vanishing it.

"Did you just do wandless magic! Do you know how rare that is? Can you teach me?" Hermoine said excitedly. She was practically bouncing in her seat.

Merlin just smiled at her sadly before saying "Sorry, but that wasn't wandless. I had my wand up my sleeve." He then conjured a convincing looking stick and pulled it out of his sleeve.

"Oh" She looked downtrodden. Ron looked between the two before saying in an overly cheerful voice "Hey Marvin all of the chocolate frogs come with a collectable card that has a famous witch or wizard. Who'd you get?"

Merlin grabbed his card and looked at it. Bright and clear read the name 'Merlin'.

**Yay things are beginning to get interesting. Luna knows Merlin's secret. *Gasp* Also, did anyone catch the AVPM reference in Chapter One? Now you have to go look! Bwahahaha! Next Chapter might take longer because I am going to attempt my own sorting hat song, so stick around for that! This is also the longest chapter I have written for anything ever, so hugs all around!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer for the rest of the story and all chapters before this: I do not own Harry Potter or Merlin. I only own Charles (and you'll meet ****_him_**** later)**

Merlin blinked, sure he had misread. But it was still there when he opened his eyes, blinking up at him. Merlin. He looked at the card, which seemed to hold many facts about himself. Apperantly they knew he had invented many potions and spells. His house was left blank though. Why would they leave that blank? Merlin just shook his head and turned the card over, expecting to see more small facts about himself. What he did see nearly gave him a heart attack. "Where did they get this picture?" Merlin mumbled under his breath as he looked into the face of the Great Dragoon. Merlin stared at it expectantly for a moment waiting for it to move. The sooner he remembered who had taken the picture the sooner he could get revenge. Unfortunatly for him, it was a still picture. "Dang it." Merlin mumbled again. "Does anyone know who took this picture of Merlin?" He asked his new friends.

"That is the only known photograph of Merlin. It was taken by Godric Gryffindor at an unknown time." Hermoine stated matter of factly.  
>Merlin was plotting all of the ways he could vandalise Godric's portrait when Ron rejoined the conversation.<p>

"So you got Merlin then? He's a pretty cool card, except for the missing facts and the muggle picture."

"Yeah. Why is there so much missing information though?" Merlin asked curiously

"Because noone knows that much about Merlin. He was just super powerful and super smart." Ron answered back simply.

Merlin nodded and sat back into his seat. He sat and thought about his new friends. Harry seemed like an okay guy, if a little quiet. Ron seemed bubbly and Hermione seemed smart. Neville seemed to be just an all around good guy. And Luna... she was just amazing. When Merlin had first met her, he had been dubious. I mean, ear holes with dangling radishes. Ouch! But when she had said all of those things, and then he read her aura. It was spectacular! Normal people have an aura that sticks to their body like another skin. It is filled with the color or colors that best represent that person. Now Luna's aura had been a beautiful blend of purple and yellow, but that was not what was strange. Her aura had been pulsing. Every now and then it would spike around her head. Otherwise it was like all other auras.

Merlin's own aura was not of the norm either. His was a dark blue mixed with deep gold with a dash of red. And it hovered around him like a cloud. Gaius had nearly passed out from shock when he had first read Merlin's aura (they had learned together). Gaiuses own aura had been a deep burgundy mixed with slight dashes of dark blues and greens. When Gaius and Merlin had learned how to read auras, they learned what some meant. The pulsing indicated she was of druidic descent. But the spikes had meant something much more rare.

Luna was a true seer.

She wasn't like those old women at carnivals, dressed in scarves and reading palms. She wasn't like prophetic seers either, who only spoke the words when they came. No, true seers did not need parlor tricks or prophecies to see the future. They simply knew. Merlin vowed to pull her away from the group and talk to her about her gift sometime in the near future.

The rest of the ride was spent in making small talk and contemplating about his year at Hogwarts.

======I=IS=LINE=BREAK=HEAR=ME=ROAR======

By the time the train arrived at the station, Merlin was ready to hop off and run towards the castle. Not only did he still dislike trains, but he could feel Hogwarts' magic calling to him. He smiled brightly as he weaved his way through the crowd of students.

He stopped short when he got to the carriages. His thestral was still alive. Being a creature of magic, all of the inhabitants of the forest called him friend, but this was a new level entirely. When he had heard of the bad reputation of thestrals, he had sought them out to either deal with the problem or fix the prejudice. One of the babies had followed him home. He had completely forgoten about Charles! He had left the school for one day to experiment in a safe house in the woods and the Old Religion knows how that went. He had thought none of his friends would have survived a 300 year wait.

As he began a light jog towards his old friend, Charles spotted him too. Giving a great whinny he bit the reins attaching him to the carriage and sprinted towards his master. Most of the students who had fought during the Final Battle screamed and pulled the younger children out of the way. Merlin only had eyes for Charles.

He was welcomed back with another whinny and a lick to the cheek. In turn Merlin wrapped his arms around Charles' neck and hugged him tight. He then pulled out his 'wand' and conjured Charles an apple.

"Who's a good boy? Who's a good theastral? Oh Charles I'm sorry I forgot you." Merlin grinned as he hefted himself onto his friends back. Once he had made himself comfortable, he realized all of the strange stares he was getting.

To the older students, he had just hugged a thestral and then climbed onto it's back.

To the younger students, he had just talked to and hugged thin air, and now he was floating.

It was pretty shocking either way.

=====OOO=THE=MYSTERIOUS=LINE=BREAK=IS=BACK====

Merlin was blushing from all of the attention by the time he made it to the Great Hall. He was lined up with the first years (apperantly he had been supposed to take the boats) and they were all staring at him for being the only 'seventeen year old' in the group of eleven year olds.  
>Finally, the doors opened and he made his way into the Great Hall once again. He felt around some of the enchantments he had put there, occasionally charging them with a spurt of magic. The most noticable was when he charged the ceiling and a golden shooting star had flown across it.<p>

As he stood behind the first years, the sorting hat ripped at the seam opened the tear and began to sing.

"Over the hills the four founders came

To build a school for witches

They saw a castle on the horizon

And filled it with many riches.

They filled it with light and magic and love

But there was something missing

And as I speak of him even now

I find myself reminiscing.

There were days when a fifth founder teached

Alongside the others as a friend

He brought to the school a special spark

That will stay here until the very end.

Gryffindor, with bravery and wit

Found himself with a new prankster

While Ravenclaw, with knowledge and books

Found to the history an anchor.

Hufflepuff, with loyalty and friendship

Found another as cheerful as she

And Slytherin, with ambition and cunning

Found himself a mentor with glee.

And though the castle flourished

When the fifth founder was around

It soon began to crumble

When he never again was found.

A fight between Godric and Salazar

Broke out soon after his departure

And Salazar left the castle then

And vowed always to live in nature.

This, children, is the untold story

Well, it was untold 'till now

How Hogwarts truly came to be

And how it was never the same without.

Merlin gasped as he learned what had happened to his friends after he had fallen asleep. 'I had only meant to be gone one day'.

**So, how do you think my sorting hat song went? Love it? Hate it? Let me know. And how about Charles? Am I using two many question marks? And how do you feel about that? Haha jk Plus for naz2702, the explanation should help with some of your questions. And yes, Voldemort is dead. This is basically canon except for Merlin's time with the founders and after this story starts. Hope that helps :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Merlin was so shocked by his friends' fate that he missed almost the entire sorting. He only snapped out of his thoughts when the stern looking witch called "Emerson, Marvin" for proboably the third or fourth time. He shook his head as he made his way up to the stool, aware of the stares burning into his back. He sat upon the stool and the hat was placed upon his head.

'You!'

Merlin winced at the hat's accusing tone. 'Yes me.'

'Where were you all of this time? The school almost broke apart because of your absence! Have you any idea of the trouble you caused?' The hat bellowed into his head.

'Hey, hey, please give me a moment to explain. I left only for a day to experiment in a safehouse but the spell went wrong and I was put to sleep for a long amount of time. I didn't intend to cause this mess.' Merlin hurried out hoping to display how truly sorry he was.

'.' The hat almost seemed shocked. "You... didn't mean to leave. Oh dear I do see the problem." The hat seemed to deflate as it realized it had been wrong all of these years.

'Just sort me for now, okay? I will find a way to come talk later.' Merlin suddenly became aware of the hushed conversation and the confused looks.

'Very well, Emrys. Welcome back to' "SLYTHERIN".

The hat roared the last word to the hall and light clapping broke out at the green and silver table. Merlin grinned widely as he made his way over to the table before sitting between a boy with dark skin and a rather frightening looking girl.

The woman from before stood at the podium and tapped her wand against it. The wand gave off several loud bell noises that quickly silenced the hall.

"Now I would like to welcome all of the new students to Hogwarts. And the rest of you," She took a deep breath and there was a warm smile on her face as she finished her sentence. "Welcome back. First I would like to announce that Professor Slughorn is the new head of Slytherin house. Next, we have a new teacher with us this year. I would like to introduce Professor Kerrigan."

A woman with short brown hair stood up, waved, and sat back down.

"She will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. I would like to request that you refer to the house board in your common room for a list of rules. The major ones that all students must follow are at the top. Now, you may eat."

Merlin was slightly startled by the short speech before shaking it off and digging in to the food. He couldn't believe how much there was! There was more food here than at some feast in Camelot. At least he was allowed to eat this food. He grinned before taking another bite of some kind of pasta.

"So, Emerson, why are you here?" The girl next to him said in a slightly screechy voice.

"Umm excuse me?" Merlin replied. He wasn't sure what the girl had meant.

"Why are you here all of a sudden? Did you transfer?" The girl asked again in the same annoying voice.

"Uh yeah, kinda." Merlin scratched the back of his head as he raced for an excuse. "What's your name?" He asked to sneakily divert attention away from himself.

"My name is Pansy Parkinson, and this is my sweetie, Draco."

The boy, Draco, scowled at Pansy before muttering under his breath and returning to his food.

"Okaaaayyyy..." Merlin wasn't sure if they were actually in a relationship or not, but who was he to question other people's business? He turned away once he saw she was distracted by her friend a few seats down and finished his dinner.

Dessert came and went, and soon he was following a crown of green and silver deep into the dungeons.

"Valiant" Said one of his fellow seventh years to a blank wall before it opened and they went inside.

Merlin flinched at the password, remembering a time far gone. The word fit the snakes better than they will ever know. Merlin snorted at that and made his way into the familiar common room. It was almost exactly as he remembered. He felt instantly at home. He walked up the staircase to his room and jumped into the bed. It was so soft!

He dressed in his nightclothes and waited for sleep to take him away after such a stressful day.

Unfortunatly for him, he had been having trouble sleeping ever since the accident. He sighed before getting out of his bed and opening his trunk. He groaned when he realized that he must have forgotten to brew more. He had been living out of this trunk for the past week at the Leaky Cauldron while he got his shopping done.

"Are you alright over there?" The same boy from earlier, Draco, had peered his head out of the curtains around his bed and was peering at Merlin. "Did you forget something?"

"Err, this may sound kind of odd, but you wouldn't happen to have any dreamless sleep potion would you?" Merlin looked sheepish but at the same time he prayed that this boy might have some or he would be up brewing it half the night.

Draco's face softened. "You too?" He asked.

"Yeah. I've been through some pretty bad stuff lately." Merlin should be jumping around on the inside but now he was only worried for Draco.

"Is that why you transferred? No, wait, you don't need to answer that." He sat up and opened his trunk, rooting around before pulling out a vial and handing it to Merlin.

"Thanks" Merlin said with a soft smile.

They both went back to their respective beds, and Merlin smiled as he dreamed of adventures with his new friends.

Even Draco.

**Whew! That was fun to write! So a few things, Prof. Kerrigan is an OC, and she is going to be a very minor character. As for Merlin's last name, I was getting tired of it being Emrys in every fic I read, so I decided to shake it up a bit. I know Merlin is normally in Gryffindor to protect Harry but guess what? Harry doesn't need protecting so Merlin goes smack bang into the middle of Slytherin. Thank you to all of my lovely guest reviewers since I cannot thank you via your profiles. Thank you everyone who followed, favorited, or even just read. That means YOU reader. Yes, you. I love you.**


	5. Chapter 5

Merlin awoke in the morning to the sound of his roommates rushing around the room. He noticed Draco was still asleep though. He inched over to his bed and tentatively poked his shoulder.

"Draco" He said. When Draco only grunted and rolled over he decided to get dressed and try again afterwards.

Once he was dressed in his new green and silver garb he conjured a small gong. He snuck over to Draco's bed. Thankfully by then the rest of the boys had left the room. He stuck the gong next to the blonde's head. He tapped the gong a few times but when that did not work he swept his arm back in one swift motion and the resulting bang shook his eardrums.

Draco's ears did not fare much better. He sat up in his bed and rolled off in almost as soon as Merlin had struck the gong.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Draco's head peered over the bed to level Merlin with a small glare. Merlin just grinned.

"Well you wouldn't wake up so I had to get creative." Merlin said cheerily with his larget grin. Draco wasn't sure he could be angry at that face.

"Fine. Just don't do that again." He said pompously, giving Merlin a quick grin to show he was messing with him.

"Why of course Si-" Merlin quickly cut himself off and his wide grin was replaced by a look of sadness. "Umm I'll wait for you in the common room while you get dressed. I'm not sure how much time is left for breakfest."

With that Merlin swiftly left the room.

====LINEBREAK====LINEBREAK====LINEBREAK====

Later as he and Draco were walking to the Great Hall Draco decided to ask aboout Merlin's little slip up.

"What were you about to say earlier before you left."

Merlin grimaced. He had really hoped this wouldn't come up. "Nothing, I just misspoke."

Draco decided to just let it be

"Marvin!" They turned in unison when they heard Merlin's name being called down the hallway. "Hey Marvin how are you? I didn't get to see you after you were sorted." Neville asked as he came to a stop beside Merlin. Me and Luna were looking for you."

Merlin gave a sheepish smile as he remembered the previous night and how happy he was to sink into sleep for a few hours. "Sorry, I was really tired. Big day, you know? Where is Luna anyway?"

"Behind you." Came a voice from almost directly behind you. Merlin jumped when he realized that Luna must have been back there since Neville found him. "It is lovely to see you today Merlin, Draco." She nodded to each of them as she said their names.

It was Nevilles turn to be startled. "Malfoy? I guess I didn't see you there." He said as his cheeks grew a light shade of red.

"Longbottom." Draco replied cordially, if not a little icily.

"Oh look, the Great Hall!" Merlin exclaimed, hoping to diffuse some of the tension between the two. "I'm starved. I guess I will be seeing you in classes then? Bye Neville, bye Luna" as they entered the hall and made their ways to their respective tables.

"Well that was awkward. Are you two not friends?" Merlin asked Draco as they sat at the Slytherin table.

"You could say that." Draco said dryly as he began to eat. Any other conversation was nipped at the bud by the appearance of Professor Slughorn.

"Hello boys! Here are your schedules. And Emerson? Welcome to Slytherin, I look forward to teaching you." He smiled at the two of them before heading over to the next cluster of students to continue his task.

"What've you got first?" Merlin asked through a bite of bagel. Draco peeked over at Merlin's schedule.

"Basically the same as you, except I'm not taking Care of Magical Creatures."

Merlin nodded and then asked "So when do classes start?"

"In about ten minutes. We might want to get moving. First is... Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws." Draco quickly polished off the rest of his food before standing up.

"Hey wait for me!" Merlin said. Of course it didn't sound like that, not with the amount of bagel that was in his mouth. He quickly swallowed before trying again. "Slow down!"

**That's that. I was inspired to write by some super awesome music that just got me so pumped up I was like 'Hell yeah, lets do some writing'. Like always, thanks for reading and have a happy day. **


	6. Chapter 6

Merlin was almost suprised by how much Hogwarts hadn't changed. The hidden passageways, the moving staircases (a prank gone wrong), and only a few new portraits. As he walked alongside Draco on their way to Tranfiguration, they began to whisper louder and louder. Merlin smiled a little. He knew it was only a matter of time until his fellow founders knew he had returned. He didn't want to approach them yet, he needed to find the right words. He sent out a silent message to the inhabitants of the paintings to not inform the Headmistress or the staff of his sudden appearance. He was here to learn and observe, not to teach and be observed.

"Marvin!" Came a sharp voice to his right. He snapped his head up. Apperantly he had become caught up in his own thoughts again. "Are you in there?" Draco continued with a slight drawl to his voice.

"Sorry, wasn't paying attention. What is it?" Merlin asked sheepishly.

"We are here." Draco said snappily as he strode into the room. He took a seat in the back left of the classroom and Merlin sat to his left. The first thing Merlin did was silently cast a glamour on his eyes so they wouldn't light up gold when he cast magic. He then cunjured a stick that looked like the one he had shown to Hermione the previous day. He then began to carve it with a small knife that he conjured into his pocket. By the time all of the students had filed in Merlin had a decently presentable wand.

Thankfully, Draco simply looked at him for a few minutes before opening his textbook and prereading the first chapter.

The woman from the previous day, the Headmistress, swept into the room. Merlin furrowed his brows, wondering why she was in this class. The woman opened her mouth and began to speak.

"Most of you may be wondering why I am still at my teaching post now that I have become the Headmistress. The answer is simply that I enjoy my job and do not wish to trade it in for sitting in an office and looking at papers. I am going to be your Transfiguration teacher. For those of you who do not know me," At this she looked back at Merlin pointedly, "My name is Professor McGonagall. Now, will you all take out your wands and participate in a few simple exercises so that I may asses your skill at this particular section of magic. First I will be giving you eggs. I would like you to transfigure them to be decorative eggs. They must be made of a matter other than shell, and do try to make them hollow. I do not want you to drop them and find yourself with an unfortunate mess. They must also be decorated. The more detailed the design, the better." She waved her wand and an egg laid upon everyone's table. "You may begin"

Merlin was beginning to like this woman. She seemed to be a no-nonsense sort of person that he could come to respect. His gaze then shifted to the egg upon his desk. He began to brainstorm designs. He decided to make the egg a tribute to Camelot at its finest. He waved his stick and pretended to mumble some words and turned the egg into a work of art.

Draco's eyes bulged out of his head. The Ravenclaw behind him nearly shrieked. McGonagall herself hurried over to see what the ruckus was about. She stopped in her tracks as she took in the image of Merlin's egg-squisite egg.

It had become roughly the size and shape of Aithusa's egg. The actual egg was a rich Camelot red. The egg was covered in very thin webs of silver, as if a spider had made it it's home. The front of the egg held a gold engraving of a dragon in perfect detail. The dragon was breathing ruby flames, coming out of his golden snout between pearl teeth. The eye was a small dot of citrine on its well sculpted face, and it looked as though it could fly off of the egg at a moments notice.

The back of the egg was a different type of masterpiece. The egg had been hollowed, and within in was a miniature world. A castle stood above a town, soaring high into the top of the egg. It, too, was in perfect detail. The small people walking around the town had miniscule smiles on their faces, and one could make out a group of knights riding out of the courtyard with two people at the head of the group: one with fair hair, and the other with locks the color of raven wings.

The egg was being held up by a stand, an stand of people looking upwards with arms raised and smiles on their faces. It was carved out of wood, as if hand made by a master. Their hands cradled the egg with care, working together to keep it balanced and standing. One could see an old man with shoulder length hair, a knight, and a woman with beautiful ringlets standing together, united, as one to keep the fragile work of art from falling.

All in all, it was the most beautiful thing many of them would see in their entire lives.


	7. Chapter 7

Merlin could only stare. His magic must be itching to get out after his overlong nap. The rest of the class seemed to notice the interruption in the atmosphere and turned to the cause of it. Professor McGonagal looked like she was barely keeping herself from having a heart attack.

"Well, Mr. Emerson," She began shakily. "This is a very lovely egg you have created here. Have you had any formal training on Transfiguration?"

Merlin shook his head. "No. I guess I just have a very active imagination." He could feel the tips of his (admittedly large) ears turn red.

McGonagal didn't seem to buy it. "But I have seen nothing like this in all of my years of teaching. I doubt I myself could have made something so intricately detailed."

"No, I just lived in an environment were I used magic often to help with daily tasks..." Merlin trailed off as he remembered all of the 'daily tasks' he had saved Camelot from. He shook himself out of his memories before his lapse in attention was noticed. "I just picked up a few things along the way."

"I see." She didn't quite seem to believe him, but she just went with it. "Do you mind if I keep this? It would make a good example and quite frankly I do not think something like this should be returned to a simple egg." Professor McGonagal asked.

Merlin grinned at her. "Of course!" He waved his stick and cast a spell over the egg to preserve the transfiguration. "Be my guest."

She picked the egg up gingerly and set it on some shelving behind her desk. It gleamed in the light. Some of Merlin's fellow students sat up straighter in their seats to see it. McGonagal turned back to the class after one final look. "This is a prime example of what I am looking for from you this year. Now will the rest of you please continue with the first test. Do not hesitate to ask questions. You are here to learn."

The class continued on. The rest of the students got their eggs transfigured soon after Merlin, but none held the same beauty as his. Draco had created a lovely Slytherin egg though. Once all of the eggs had been transfigured back to their original form (the exception being Merlin's, of course) McGonagal set the stage for the second test.

"You will be transfiguring liquids next. Your next challange is to turn a cup of water into salt water, then into salt, then back into water." She placed a quill onto each of their desks. "There is, however, a catch. You will be transfiguring the quill into the goblet of water. They are each filled with neverending ink. You will transfigure the ink into water and the quill into a goblet and then complete the test. This is to see how far your transfigurations can stretch before breaking. Once you are done, you will turn the goblet of water into a bird of your choice and return it to me. That is if you finish all of the tasks before that. I do not expect you to do it perfectly. I do not even expect you to be able to complete this. I only ask that you try to the best of your ability. Once again, do not hesitate to ask questions. You may begin."

Merlin's head was struggling to take in all of the information. He raised his hand.

"Yes Emerson? Do you have a question?" McGonagal seemed curious what this brilliant boy would have a question about.

"Well, would you mind writing a list on the board? I'm afraid I didn't quite catch all of that." He smiled sheepishly.

"Of course." She waved her wand and a helpful list appeared on both of the boards at the front of the room. Most of the Ravenclaws breathed a sigh of relief, having tried to write down all of what the Professor said and failed.

Once Merlin had read through the list a few times and actually understood the point of the assignment, he began to picture a goblet in his head. He once again waved his stick-wand and transfigured the quill into a silver goblet and the ink inside into clear sparkling water. The goblet had the engraving of mermaids at the base, but the top was the main attraction. It was almost as though the bottom half of the goblet was the lake, and the top was land. Standing halfway out of the water was Freya holding Excalibur. It was as well detailed as the egg before it; in the fact that you could clearly see the details in Freya's hair and dress and the sharp edge of Excalibur. Merlin took a long look at his lost love's face before continuing on with the task at hand.

He found turning the water to salt water was slightly difficult, but after a few minor hiccups he was onto the next line on the list. The salt was easier and it only took him one try. Then it was back to the water. He knew instantly what bird he was going to turn his goblet to, so he sat back and observed the rest of the class as they worked. Most of the Ravenclaws and some Slytherins were in the process of turning the water to salt water, and the rest were still trying to get ink out of their water or feathers off of their goblet. Draco was working on the salt water. Merlin decided to help him out a little bit.

"Hey, picture the taste of salt when you try next time. It might help." Merlin said to his friend as he struggled.

Draco took a minute and closed his eyes before waving his wand and sniffing his goblet. He reeled back at the smell of pure saltwater. He turned to Merlin with an unfamiliar emotion in his eyes. "Thanks. How did you really make the egg earlier." As soon as the emotion was there it was gone; it was snapped behind an almost instinctual mask.

"I told everyone earlier. That's basically it." Merlin said apologetically.

Draco nodded at him. "Okay."

**So, here we go! Next Chapter we finish with the second and third tasks (sounding familiar yet?) and maybe head into some new classes. What do you think Merlin's bird is going to be? It may or may not be fairly obvious. Happy guessing!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed with their thoughts on Merlin's bird, and congrats to those who got it right.**

Merlin waited until Draco was on the last part of the task, slowly coaching him through it with tips he had picked up from all of his years of experience. Thanks to his help, he and Draco were about to be the first people to complete the task.

"Okay Draco, do you know what bird you are going to make?" Merlin grinned as he pictured his bird quite easily.

Draco nodded. "Yes, do you?"

"Of course! Okay, start by using all of your senses to picture the bird. Feel it's feathers, see it's color, hear it's sounds. I think we can leave out smell and taste on this one." Merlin chucked a bit. "Okay, here we go!"

They waved their wands as one and the goblets slowly morphed into their birds of choice.

At first glance, Merlin's bird was not very ostentaneous. But any seasoned bird lover would know exactly what bird he had chosen. A Merlin hawk. The bird was completely seperate from what the goblet had been, and the transformation showed no odd side effects, which could not be said for Draco's bird. Although the bird itself was as perfectly formed as Merlin's, it was drenched with water. The first thing it had done upon transformation was shake it's wings and splatter the two boys with water droplets. Only after Draco had dried it off could it's beauty be fully appreciated. Draco had chosen a Royal Pigeon. It was rather like him.

Professor McGonagal made her way over to their table. "Very good boys. Could you please tell me what birds you have chosen and why?"

After a few looks at each other from the corner of their eyes, Draco went first.

"It is a Royal Pigeon. It was the first bird I thought of and I do like it anyways." Draco said. McGonagal turned to Merlin.

"This is a Merlin hawk. I had one a few years ago to send letters instead of an owl." Merlin covered smoothly. Honestly, he just appreciated the irony of the situation. McGonagal nodded and left them to their birds.

Over the course of the rest of the time, only seven other students had managed to make it to the bird tranformation. Only two of them managed to make their birs without bits of goblet showing. McGonagal quickly collected the goblets and birds before announcing the final task.

"This one will be quick but difficult. I have two caudrons here full of slips of paper with items written on them. You will select one piece from each cauldron and then retrieve the item from the first slip of paper from the table over there. You will then transfigure it into the item on the second slip of paper. Do you understand?"

The entire class either nodded or replied positively.

"One final thing. The items can be anything from animals to liquids to household items. Be prepared for anything. Now, will you please make a straight line in front of my desk."

The students quickly formed a line and selected their items before returning to their seats or going to the table of items.

Draco turned to Merlin. "I have to turn these spectacles into a dog. What do you have to do?" He asked as he grimaced at the dusty glasses before placing them on the desk in front of him.

"I have to turn this spoon into daffodils." Merlin grinned at the odd combination.

"Good luck with that. I'm not entirely sure I know what daffodils even look like anymore." Draco said quietly as he turned his wand on the glasses. He waved his wand and the glasses were turned into a small dog with metal circles embedded around it's eyes. He sighed and turned it back. He was being distracted by the thought of daffodils. He remembered how he would pick daffodils for his mother after learning of them in the Manor's library. He remembered how she would smile at him. And he remembered how they would but put in a vase and placed on the dining room table for all to see. The yellow of the flowers would brighten the room and he would smile every time he saw them. He also remembered clearly that the day the Dark Lord- no, Voldemort- had come to stay, all of the flowers surrounding the Manor had died. That, for him, had signaled the end of a happy childhood and the beginning of the end.

Merlin noticed how uncommonly quiet his friend had become. "Hey Draco, are you okay?" He asked worried.

Draco snapped himself out of his reverie. "I'm fine." He said a little more gruffly than he had intended before continuing to work on his dog.

Merlin gave a small "okay" then continued on the flowers, but he kept a close eye on Draco for the rest of the class. He worked on changing the spoon into a single daffodil before attempting to make several. The slip did say 'daffodils' not 'daffodil'.

The rest of the class was filled with odd hybrids of two unusual items and much struggle from those with odder combinations. Merlin was still having trouble creating more than one flower from one spoon when Professor McGonagal told them that time was up. Draco had finished his assignment and had settled for a golden retriever puppy with slightly darker fur around the eyes. Merlin had an odd bundle of daffodils that started as one stem and then branched off into several flowers.

The Professor made her way around the classroom before stopping in front of their desk. After she approved Draco's work she turned to Merlin. She raised her eyebrow at the strange looking flower in front of her . "Might I request what you were attempting to do here Mister Emerson?" She asked curiously.

Merlin once again turned a light shade of pink. "Well the slip of paper said daffodils, as in plural, so I tried to make a bunch of daffodils."

"And what item did you create these out of?" Professor McGonagal asked.

"A spoon."

She seemed very suprised. "It seems wonders never cease. I'm suprised you managed to get this many flowers out of one stem."

Merlin simply smiled at her.

The bell that announced the end of class rang and the students packed their things and went into the hallway.

"What class do you have next? I have Care of Magical Creatures with the Gryffindors." Merlin asked Draco as they made their way out of the classroom.

"Too bad. I have Arithmancy. I can give you directions though. Go out by the Forbidden Forest and look for the hut. If any other students are heading that way you can ask them for directions. I guess I will see you in Potions." Draco said. Before Merlin could reply he quickly began to speak again. "And watch your back, the last time I was in CoMC, the teacher did something really flashy and dangerous."

Merlin nodded and made his way to the front doors of the castle.

**Whew! That was interesting! I wonder what Hagrid has planned for class. Here's a fun fact about daffodils: Daffodil is the common name for the plant genusNarcissus_. _Thought you ought to know. *Faints* *Is revived* Ahem. Anyway in case you missed my little hint in the last note, the trials in Transfiguration class were designed (unintentionally on McGonagal's behalf of course) after the trials of the Triwizard Tournament. Well, this is getting longish. **


	9. Chapter 9

Merlin made his way in the general direction of the front doors when he saw a flash of blond hair in front of him. He quickly sped up, hoping it was Luna. Luckily for him, it was. He weaved his way through the throng of students while mentally preparing what he would say.

When he had caught up to Luna, he tapped her on the shoulder. She turned.

"Oh hello Marvin." She smiled at him. "I suppose you would like to talk."

Merlin smiled back at her. "That would be great."

"Have you repaired the hidden room?" She tilted her head as she asked the question.

"I was not aware it was damaged." Merlin frowned, he had always been rather proud of the Room of Requirement. It had involved some pretty difficult magic. "I can fix it if you would like to meet there."

"Of course! Can we meet after class?" She said in her drifty voice.

"Yeah that'd be great! See you then" Merlin gave her one of his blinding walking away. To his suprise he realized that he had followed Luna all the way up to one of the towers. If he didn't run he was going to be late! He took off at break neck speed down the hallway before skidding to a stop and slapping himself in the face. "Idiot!" He mutterd to himself. He couldn't believe he had forgotten he could apparate on Hogwarts grounds. With a twist he was in an inconspicious corner just down the hall from the front doors. He grinned to himself as he made his way through the doors and down a small path to where he could see a class collecting. There were about five other children and an overly large man. They were standing next to the Great Lake. Merlin made it to the small group just in time. In the group he immediatly noticed Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and a Slytherin he didn't recognize.

The large bearded man began to speak. "Welcome to Care of Magical Creatures." He beamed at all of them; it was obvious how enthusiastic he was about his job. "Today we will be learnin' about some of the smartest 'creatures' there are. Today we are learnin' about Merpeople!" The man looked like a small child on Christmas morning.

Harry had given a noticable start at the mention of Merpeople. "Mermaids?" He asked quietly.

"Why o'course Harry! Aren't they just the most interesting beings? The only reason they aren't classified as full beings is because they did not want to be in the same catagory as vampires and hags." He puffed his chest out at the information. He than deflated as a thought seemed to cross his mind. "Oh righ'. You don't have to stay for this if you don't want to."

Harry just smiled back and said, "It's okay Hagrid. Besides, I wouldn't miss your class for the world."

Hagrid now seemed so happy that Merlin thought if people were able to spontaneously combust, Hagrid would explode.

"Great! Now lets get on with the lesson. The merpeople have agreed to a simple translation spell and will be helping me teach this lesson. Everyone, may I introduce you to Loredana and Ante." As he said this two merpeople pulled themselves onto the shore, their tails still dipped into the water. The female, Loredana, had light green hair with a splash of blue while Ante had deep green. They both had greyish skin, but Ante's was a shade lighter. "First of all, merpeople can survive above water. They had the spell cast on them earlier by Headmistress McGonagall. Harry, Ron, Hermione, you can talk to Loredana. Neville, Emerson, Davis, you can talk to Ante. Now hop to it! And I'm sure you all know by now not to be rude during lessons." The rest of the students had interesting reactions to that. Ron, Neville, and Harry looked like they were trying not to laugh and Hermione had a small smile on her face. 'Davis' just gave a snort before walking over to the merman.

Merlin followed her. "Hi my name is Marvin." He introduced himself to the other two in his group and then again in mermish just in case. Ante seemed thrilled.

"You know my true tounge?" He asked in English. Merlin smiled.

"Yeah, I like learning." He then turned to the girl beside him. "What is your name?"

"My name is Tracey Davis." She said. She didn't seem very interested in Merlin.

Neville introduced himself to Ante and they began the lesson.

"Okay, so I guess now that that is over, we may speak about my culture. We live in settlements on the ocean floor..."

The class went by quickly for Merlin as he absorbed all of the information that Ante provided. When there was only about 15 minutes left of class, Merlin's old friend decided to pay a visit. Merlin heard the whinny before he saw him, and soon Charles was galloping towards him. He hadn't had time to say a proper goodbye. He had ridden Charles up to the castle by a back path and had parted quickly to make it to the sorting ceremony.

"What? Is that a thestral?" Hagrid seemed bewildered that one of the creatures had broken off of it's herd and ran out of the forest in broad daylight. He watched it running towards one of his new students with growing panic. The thestral couldn't attack one of his students! He ran to protect him.

"Charles!" Merlin yelled with glee. Charles had almost made it to his friend when the big forest man was between them. He whinnied and stood up on his hind hooves. Why wasn't he allowed to see his friend?

"Slow down! Go back to the forest and don't bother my students!" Hagrid felt a hand on his arm. He looked down to see the Emerson kid.

"Professor it's okay! Charles is my friend." Merlin looked up (and by the gods he had to look _up_) at Hagrid and gave his best puppy dog eyes.

Hagrid needed a few seconds to process this unforseen development. "He's your... friend?"

"Yes sir." Merlin walked around Hagrid and made his way towards Charles and way met in the middle with a nuzzle on the cheek. He laughed and hugged the thestral around the neck.

"Alrigh' then." Hagrid scratched his head and walked over to the Golden Trio. It took everyone a few seconds before they shook off their suprise and went back to talking to their respective merpeople. The final seven minutes were spent with questions about Charles from Neville and Tracey, and Ante, who had never seen a thestral before (because he had been underwater, not because of the death rule). When class ended Ante and Charles were on their way to being good friends themselves and Neville and Merlin had made plans with Ante to visit Valemere (the mer-village). He said goodbye to his friends and walked to Potions with a large smile on his face.

**This is my Valentine to all of you :) Hope you like it!**


	10. Chapter 10

Merlin intercepted Draco as he went down the stairs. They walked in thoughtful silence to the dungeons, dodging other students as they went. As they approached class the silence was broken.

"So, how was Care of Magical Creatures? I see you haven't been mauled yet at least." Draco said snidely as though having a personal vendetta against the class.

"_I_ thought it was fun. We talked with merpeople and I got to see Charlie." Merlin grinned as he thought of his old friend.

"Charlie?"

"My thestral friend."

"Ah."

The rest of the walk was again spent in silence as Merlin thought about his later meeting with Luna and Draco thought about who-knows-what. When they had finally arrived at the class they proceeded to sit among their classmates on the right side of the room while the Hufflepuffs congregated mostly to the right. Their professor: Slughorn, if Merlin recalled correctly, had not arrived yet.

With barely a minute to spare, a large jovial man swept into the room. He glanced around the room happily, pausing on particular people every now and then.

"Well then, welcome to 7th year potions!" Here his face took on a slightly more serious expression. "I expect all of you to work very hard this year. I am going to warn you right now that this class is for those serious in persuing the art of potion making. I will not accept slackers in my class." With his warning out of the way, he morphed back into the happy man from moments ago.

The class just looked at him in mixed parts fear and wonderment.

He smiled back at them. "Oh come now, cheer up! You made it this far, I'm sure you will do fine. As long as you study, I am positive you will make wonderful potion masters and mistresses. Now, will you all retrieve your textbooks, 'The Fine Art..."

Merlin managed to let the professor's voice fade into soothing background noise. He gathered the gist of it: you will be making the simple potion on page 45 so that I may asses your skills and you will be doing it without a partner. He opened his book to the assigned page to find that they were making Veritaserum. The book had it classed as a potion master level potion, so many of the other students look weary. Thankfully, Merlin had learned _something_ while assisting Gaius, and he would be sure to put his tutelage to good work. Still, this class was going to be difficult if this potion was classed as _simple_ by the professor.

Draco had already fetched his ingredients by the time that Merlin had pulled himself out of LaLa Land. Merlin quickly set to work, putting his water on to boil and then getting the ingredients his book said he would need. After he had lined them all along the table in order of usage, he let his work take over.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

By the end of the class, everyone had finished in time, but not without some damage. Some were covered in potion ingredients, some were covered in the potion itself, some had nearly ripped their hair out. Thankfully, there were no explosions or fatal injuries. One student had been rushed to the hospital wing, but that was because they had slipped on some spilled potion after finishing and celebrating. Merlin himself was one of the students covered in potion ingredients. He had had a unhappy greeting from a plant stem that apperantly spewed purple liquid when cut wrong. In the end, though, Merlin was one of the few that had a potion vaguely resembling the description of the final product in the book. Draco had managed an almost perfect potion without any damage to himself or the surrounding area. He knew his way around the potions ingredients due to his training with his godfather, and Merlin knows (the saying, not Merlin himself) he would not pull on his hair for all the stress in the world.

Once everyone had calmed down and the messes had been cleaned up, Professor Slughorn made his way around the room. He started on the Hufflepuff side, grunting at the less well made potions, and stopping on a few occasions to congratulate students who had accomplished an okay job or better. He then made his way over to the Slytherin side and weaved his way through desks and students, grading as he went. He then stopped in front of Draco and Merlin's conjoined desk and peered into Draco's potion.

"Marvelous, simply marvelous. This is the best one I've seen today! We may make a potions master out of you yet Mr.-" Slughorn looked up. Upon seeing that Draco had been the receiver of his complements, his face seemed to harden slightly. "-Malfoy." He gritted out the word with a fake smile plastered on his face as if he disliked Draco in particular for some strange reason. Slughorn quickly turned to Merlin's potion.

"Decent job Mr-" Once again Slughorn paused. "I'm sorry, I don't think I've had you in my class before. What would your name be?"

"Marvin Emerson, Professor. I'm new this year, just transferred in." Merlin replied.

"Welcome to Hogwarts then! I see potential in you, Mr. Emerson. You handled most of your ingredients very neatly, it would appear you just need to work on timing."

Merlin nodded. He knew that some potions would turn out slightly off if the timing was wrong, even if everything else was perfect. "Thank you Professor."

Slughorn nodded to him and finished inspecting the rest of the Slytherin potions. After he had seen all of the potions and given advice, he asked them to bottle their potions and bring the vial to his desk. After that, they were free to talk amongst themselves for the small time before class ended. After both Merllin and Draco had done as instructed, Merlin turned to his to carefully ask about Professor Slugorn's odd behavior.

"So, have you had Professor Slughorn before?" Merlin asked, trying to rein in his curiousity.

"Yeah, last year. I was also in a little club he ran, the Slug-Club or something equally stupid." Draco obviously could see where the conversation was headed and abruptly switched topics. "Why did you have such difficulty with the raven sprouts? They are a first year ingredient, everyone knows by now not to cut them like you did. Well, everyone with braincells."

"Oh well I'm sorry, I haven't run into it before." Merlin snapped. He paused and took in a deep breath, in and out, in and out. "Do you know where the plant originated from?"

Draco nodded. "Yeah, somewhere in northern Mexico."

Merlin nodded back. It made sense he wouldn't have run into it. It was from a whole new country that didn't even exist when he fell asleep. That and "the Americas" and "Canada" and "the southern Americas". He sighed again and ran a hand through his hair.

Draco, who was about to ask why it mattered where the plant had originated from, noticed his new friends stress. "Hey it's okay. I'm sure that even if you do have some gaps in your potion ingredient knowledge, you will catch right up. Remember, Slughorn said you had potential, yeah?"

Merlin smiled back at Draco, glad that he didn't think he was weird or stupid for not knowing what was apperantly such a basic ingredient. "Yeah, I'm sure I can catch up."

And if Merlin was still curious about the Professor's behavior towards Draco, well, he guessed he could just let it be for now.

**Hey all! Sorry for slow updates. I've had the first half of this chapter written for _ages_ but I lost inspiration for awhile there. But here we go! Potions Class. Looks like Merlin missed quite alot in terms of world development. After a bit of research as to certain times, I have determined that Merlin went coma in about the year 925 (seven years after the founding of Hogwarts) due to some made up timeline I now have (Hogwarts was supposedly founded in the 900's so I went from there). That means he's missed quite a bit more than simply over 300 years. But look! He's learning already! Also, raven sprouts are my attempt at potions lingo. A.k.a they don't exist as far as I know. I am also adding Draco to the list of characters in the summary/description because he is quickly taking over :) Hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	11. Chapter 11

As Merlin and Draco parted ways with Merlin heading to Herbology and Draco to Arithmancy, Merlin tried to salvage the mood.

"So I'll see you in Defense yeah?" He turned to Draco with and inquisitive smile.

Draco gave a small smile back. "Yeah."

Merlin headed out towards the greenhouses and, upon arrival, stood confused. Which one was his class in? Well, he had a one in three shot in getting it right. He began to head towards the third when he heard Neville call out from behind him.

"Marvin! Hold on!" He ran up next to Merlin and gave a small tug on his sleeve, directing him towards the second greenhouse. "Class is in here today."

"Ah." Merlin sure was glad that Neville had shown up. Knowing him, he would have sat in the other greenhouse all class waiting for anyone else to show up. "How'd you know?"

Neville scratched the back of his head with his hand. "Herbology's my favorite subject. I love to help out in the greenhouses, and, well, I helped Professor Sprout plan today's lesson."

"That's brilliant Neville! I'm sure it will be great." Merlin replied back with a grin.

"Thanks Marvin. I'm a bit nervous though. What if it doesn't go well?"

"I'm sure it will be fine." Merlin gave Neville a pat on the back as he began to make his way over to the proper greenhouse. "Now come on, _Professor_, wouldn't want to be late for your own class."

Neville laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He began to walk with more confidence afterwards.

The class, of course, went perfectly. Even though technically Professor Sprout was teaching, Neville gave out great tips about the plants they were working with that day. He literally seemed to know anything and everything to do with Herbology. Merlin did pretty well. The plant they were working with was a magical version of grape vines. The objective of the class was to encourage the plants to grow around their pieces of crosshatched fencing. Neville had no trouble completing the assignment, but some of the other students were already drenched in wine. He carefully made his way around the greenhouse and showed his classmates how to wrangle the vines onto the fencing. Under his careful tutelage, soon the entire class had presentable arrangements.

==IM==ONLY==GONNA==BREAK==BREAK==YOUR==LINE===

As Merlin and Neville headed out of the greenhouse at the end of class, Professor Sprout approached them. Well, more specifically, she approached Neville.

"Mr. Longbottom, I am very proud of how far you have come in the field of Herbology. You did wonderfully today, and I think that you will make a wonderful teacher in the future." She beamed at him and he blushed, shuffling his feet.

"Thank you Professor, but I owe it all to you." He replied bashfully.

Merlin decided to speak up. "I thought you did brilliantly too Neville. I mean, this could have been a disaster but you swooped in and saved the day, like, like a..." Merlin searched his mind for a good comparison. He snagged a bit of information he learned during his week or so in muggle "London". "Like a muggle superhero!"

Neville looked at him for a second before replying. "Thanks." He stood for a second before continuing. "But what's a "Superhero?""

"Sort of just a hero that is super, I think. I'm sure I heard that one of them could fly though. But I think they're fictional." Merlin replied back. He shrugged.

"Anyways," Professor Sprout continued, "I would love to have your input into the rest of this classes for this year, and if you would like to I can transfer one of your free periods into a Herbology class for younger years and you can be my teaching assistant."

A huge grin immediately spread itself across Neville's face. "Really?"

"Of course! You are my best student. I would love to help with your future ambitions. Now, I will give you some time to think about it, and when you dec-"

"YES!" Neville shouted loudly before clapping his hand over his mouth. "I mean, I would love to. I don't really need time to think about it." He finished with a blush covering his entire face.

"Wonderful. Well, I won't keep you two any longer. Go on to your next class before you're late!"

They walked out of the greenhouse and up to the castle, keeping a steady stream of chatter about some basic herbs that Merlin had seen during class. They weaved their way through the students rushing past and headed towards their Defense classroom. They were quickly intercepted by Draco.

"So how was Herbology?" Draco asked, making small talk as they entered the classroom.

"Amazing! Neville is so amazing that Professor Sprout wants him to help teach the lower years!" Merlin said excitedly.

"Congratulations Longbottom." Draco said and gave a small nod of his head to the other boy. They all sat down as they waited for Defense class to commence.

**Well that's it for now! A HUGE thanks to the reviewers that reinspired me to continue. I hope this lived up to your expectations.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Wow, can you believe it has been a year since I've last uploaded? I didn't think it'd been that long! And it has also been two years since I first posted it. Well, I finally worked up some inspiration! I also will be addressing some inconsistencies at the bottom after having gone through the reviews and realizing some mistakes I made (oops). **

Everyone was seated and curious about their new Professor by the time she actually arrived in the classroom. Professor Kerrigan was on the shorter side, but very intimidating looking. She swept her way to the front of the classroom and began to speak in a very strong American accent.

"Hello class, I am your new professor for this year. I know there was a lot of excitement last year and we have some students repeating their classes, but I will not be accepting any excuses for slacking. My name is Meredith Kerrigan, but I expect you to address me as Professor Kerrigan. I am American, and as thus I was not here for the whole Voldemort debacle. This year we will..."

Her voice faded to the back of Merlin's head. She seemed to be rather insensitive about the _war _last year. He hadn't been here either, but the stories in the papers he had read had still worried him immensely. He frowned as she continued to talk. He could see similar reactions all over the class, especially from Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Professor Kerrigan carried on happily, unaware of the unease of her students. "And so I would like to start this class with a minor dueling tournament. Will everyone with a red dot on the underneath of their desk please proceed forward to the front of the class?"

The scrapes of chair legs being pulled across the floor wrenched through the room as students lowered their heads to see if they were going to have to participate. As groans were heard around the class, those unfortunate enough to have sat at the wrong desk trudged forward. Merlin, for once, seemed to have luck on his side and was not going to be dueling anyone.

'Good, I've had enough attention today' He thought as the tips of his ears reddened, remembering Professor McGonagall's adoring face as she had stared at his egg.

He recognized a few of the students parading to the front. Among them were Ron, the boy that had sat next to him at the feast the night before, and Tracy Davis from Care of Magical Creatures. As the students began to form a line in front of the Professor, she traced a large chalk circle at the front of the room. She turned back towards the students that were both sitting and standing.

"Now class, I would appreciate you paying attention. You will be learning this next spell soon and I am sure you will find it very useful." She turned to face the circle once again and lowered her wand to the edge of it. After having traced the perimeter of the chalk line with the tip of her wand, she stood up and said very loudly and clearly,

"Protego Maxima Vigilum."

A large half bubble shimmered into existence, its edges matching up to the chalk line on the floor. It stayed visible for a moment before fading to a bare glimmer. The Professor then walked over to a pedestal by her desk holding the seventh year textbook.

"Now, this spell is a very popular one used in most minor duels not involving Unforgivables or the intent to kill. It is utilized by many dueling competitions across Europe and America. There is a short paragraph about the spell on page 34 of your textbook."

The class was silent with the exception of a single quill. The Professor smiled gently at the back of the room. "5 points to Gryffindor for note taking!"

Merlin turned around to see Hermione with a slight blush and a piece of parchment with several notes written on it. He nearly smacked himself in the head.

'Ah, what are you doing Merlin? You're here to learn, why are you not taking notes too?' Merlin quickly pulled out his own copy of their textbook to dog-ear the page with the passage about the spell. After sliding the book back into his bag, he raised his head just in time to catch the Professor choosing the first pair to compete.

"Okay, it is now time for our first pair to duel. How about..." She looked up and down the row of seventh years. "You," She pointed at a Gryffindor boy with brown hair and scattered freckles. "And you." She moved her hand to point at the dark skinned Slytherin that he had barely recognized before. Both of the boys shuffled forward.

"Okay, would you two please make your way inside of the dome?" Professor Kerrigan pointed at two spots to the far east and west points of the circle. As they did so, she began to set up a list of rules on the board:

No Purposeful Injuring

No Dangerous Curses

No Dark Magic

And Absolutely No UNFORGIVABLE CURSES

"Okay boys, please give me your names."

The Gryffindor boy to the western part of the circle was "Seamus Finnegan", and the other boy near the eastern side was "Blaise Zambini".

The Professor smiled at them both. "Very well. Do keep in mind that this shield will stop most basic curses and spells from breaking through, but will not work on those of the darker variety. I do not expect you to be using those though, as this is a _friendly_ battle." It seems she had heard about the feud between Slytherin and Gryffindor.

Being reminded of the fight that had occured after he left was saddening. Merlin tried to think of anything that could push the two apart. Nothing really came to mind. Sure, they weren't the closest of friends, but they had never truly _fought_. He sighed. After classes were over, his first stop would be the library. He had to know what had happened.

While Merlin reminisced about the past, the dueling had already begun. Thus far, Seamus' foot had been transfigured into a eel and Blaise had been clipped by a curse that caused the victim to experience major hair growth on their underarms. The rest of the class was transfixed as the two dueling boys had very close calls with some spells and had to deal with the hilarious repercussions of others. Even Draco was too focused to notice that Merlin's mood had slipped drastically.

After that, class went by very fast for Merlin. After Seamus landed a lucky hit on Blaise and knocked him out with a flying goblet, two other groups went. Ron won very easily when paired up with a giant Slytherin named Gregory Goyle, who's brain, it seems, was not quite as big as his stature. Afterwards, Tracy from Care of Magical Creatures went up against that strange girl from last night, Pansy Something-or... was it something to do with parking? Merlin shook his head, no use trying to remember now. Tracy and Pansy fought well, but class ended before a winner could be determined.

Everyone left the class for lunch, eager to tell their friends about the duels. Merlin left too, but he was headed in a different direction.

Forget lunch, he had to know what had truly happened while he was gone.

**There we go! It was easier to get back to writing than I thought it would be. Now, to address some questions I have been getting.**

**Yes, I do realize now that Merlin should not have been having dreams after taking a dreamless sleep potion. I suppose that was just me looking for a good line to end the chapter on!**

**Now that you mention it, I did plan the schedule wrong before writing. I should have spaced out the classes between several days. I blame it on my school having seven classes a day tbh. As I do already have the schedule written out I will probably keep with it. **

**Sorry about the whole "nope it was actually about 1000 years not 300 whoops" thing, I will go into the summary and change it there.**

**Anyhow, hope you enjoyed!**


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